Switzerland is a small country in the middle of Europe, but it’s so full of beauty that it’s hard to believe it all fits in such a small space: high mountains with snow even in summer, lakes as blue as a painting, trains that climb up mountainsides and super-long tunnels. Let’s get to know it.
Switzerland has no sea at all. It’s surrounded by land on every side, and its neighbors are Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein.
Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, an old language spoken by very few people. Different regions mainly speak different languages.
The Swiss flag is red with a white cross, and it’s square, not rectangular. Only two countries in the world have a square flag: Switzerland and Vatican City.
Switzerland’s money is the Swiss franc.
Switzerland is divided into 26 cantons โ a bit like states โ and each has its own laws. The city of Bern is the “federal city,” where the government and parliament meet. The country is run by a council of seven ministers, and each year one of them serves as president โ for just one year.
The Swiss vote a lot! Several times a year they hold referendums, where the public itself decides on important laws. This system is called “direct democracy.”
Switzerland is famous for being neutral: it doesn’t join other countries’ wars. Its neutrality was recognized back in 1815. It only joined the United Nations in 2002, and it still isn’t part of the European Union.
About 9 million people live in Switzerland. The biggest cities are Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne and Bern. Geneva is home to the offices of many international organizations, so people come there from all over the world.
Alpine ibex: a wild goat with long, curved horns that climbs steep rocks with amazing ease. It almost disappeared from the region, and special efforts brought it back.
Marmot: a chubby rodent that lives in burrows in the mountains. When it senses danger, it gives a sharp whistle to warn all its friends. In winter it hibernates for months.
St. Bernard dog: a huge, friendly dog named after a monastery at a mountain pass in Switzerland. For many years these dogs helped rescue people stuck in the snow. The most famous one, named Barry, is said to have saved about 40 people!
The Swiss love trains, and they’re famous for running on time. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, opened in 2016, is 57 kilometers long. It’s the longest railway tunnel in the world, running deep under the Alps.
There’s also a train that climbs all the way to Jungfraujoch station, 3,454 meters high. It’s the highest railway station in Europe, and from there you can see giant glaciers.
The Alps: they cover most of Switzerland. The highest mountain in Switzerland is the Dufourspitze, 4,634 meters high.
The Matterhorn: one of the most famous mountains in the world, with a sharp, pyramid-shaped peak. It’s 4,478 meters high.
Lake Geneva: a big blue lake that Switzerland shares with France. In Geneva there’s a giant fountain that shoots water high above the lake.
The Rhine Falls: near the city of Schaffhausen. The falls are about 150 meters wide and about 23 meters high, and they’re among the most powerful waterfalls in Europe.
Basel: an old city on the Rhine River. In 1897 the First Zionist Congress met there โ an important step on the road to founding the State of Israel.
๐ซ Switzerland is famous for its chocolate, and the Swiss are among the biggest chocolate eaters in the world.
๐ง Switzerland makes hundreds of kinds of cheese. The famous cheese with holes comes from a region called Emmental.
โ Swiss watches are known as some of the most precise and expensive in the world.
๐ช The red Swiss Army knife, with its blade, scissors and can opener, was born in Switzerland and is known all over the world.
โ The Red Cross was founded in Geneva in 1863. Its symbol is the Swiss flag with the colors reversed.
๐ฌ Near Geneva is CERN, one of the biggest research centers in the world, where scientists study the tiniest particles that everything is made of.
๐ In many mountain villages, cows wear bells around their necks so farmers can hear where they are.
